Serious questions about the 130 amp alternator upgrade

[Bowman85merc]

we've done 3 conversion know, on mine we did it just like in the pic above, on bowman83merc and my dads lincoln we used a alternatoor harness off of a 98 (i belive) ford pickup. they have the complete wiring for this swap, it has the power wire from battery, fuse holder with 175 amp fuse and wires from fuse to alternator, all we had to do was splice the green wire and it was done.

plus it only cost us $5 for each one.

[85crownHPP]

part of your confusion is my fault Dave... I need to change my 3G page...
the green wire is both the 'excite' and warning lamp wire... the yellow wire just needs to be hooked up to any voltage source as mentioned.

[87gtVIC]

part of your confusion is my fault Dave... I need to change my 3G page...
the green wire is both the 'excite' and warning lamp wire... the yellow wire just needs to be hooked up to any voltage source as mentioned.

ahh No biggie I got it all figured out now thanks to everybody!

[87gtVIC]

any difference between hooking the charge cable up to the solenoid over the battery or vice verse?

[import convert]

idk if anyone would care but the alternator form a 88 mustang 2.3L is like 80 amps and bolts right in no problems. thats what i got on my merc

[1990LTD]

any difference between hooking the charge cable up to the solenoid over the battery or vice verse?

find the threads I had about it..I was gonna just run it straight to the battery but was convinced (though I can't remember by whom) to do it the right way.

[86GmLsCoupe]

I ran mine to the solenoid, then over to the battery. There's some wires on top of the old charge cables (at least on my 86'), so when you take the old stuff off, put them back and everything will work as it should.

[gadget73]

Electrically speaking, theres no real difference. If you can get it on the solenoid, go for it. If not, the battery is fine.


The 2.3 Mustang alternator should be the same as whats on the cars stock, 2g with the two plugs. The problem with those is the plugs get worn, get hot, and catch fire. The fact that the stock 65 amp output also sucks is just a secondary issue. Burning the car down is a more bigger problem.

[import convert]

true. i guess you wouldnt have to worry bout that with the 3g alternator. but yea ive changed the plugs but they do get rather hot and the 80 amps still makes a difference and it was like 50 bucks cheaper then our stock alternator

[87gtVIC]

Thanks again guys.

[1990LTD]

let us know how it goes!


i actually stopped over at my mechanics place earlier and he had the hood open on a 90s sable and was just putting the alternator (130a 3g) back in

[87gtVIC]

yea, i sure will post it up...but i have no idea when i am gonna fork over the cash for a new one.

[Archangel]

Electrically speaking, theres no real difference. If you can get it on the solenoid, go for it. If not, the battery is fine.

Thain, they are the same as far as voltage is concerned, when you start talking current flow capacity they may not be the same - it all depends how the electrical system of the car is set up, including all the add-ons. For a mostly factory vehicle with no big stereos and such it makes no difference where you hook up the alt, the factory 4-gauge cable between the battery and the starter relay on the fender is plenty big for all current the car may be drawing with everything on (blower, A/C, lights, and so on). The problem is when you hook up some powermonger, such as a huge amp or (in my case) a lot of lights, if you have all these directly at the battery and your alt is at the relay then the 4-gauge cable between the battery and the relay may not be big enough for the current the powermongers will be drawing - in that case you may want to have the alt hooked up straight at the battery. Of course all this is based on the assumption your alt cable is larger than the one between the battery and the fender relay, if they are all 4-gauge then it's all the same where you hook up the alt.